Two Confusing
by HisVampira
Summary: AU fic. MA. Max's unit didn't escape in '09. Twins are roomies; Ben isn't crazy :) Alec devises a plan to find out why Max has been so distant after a stay in the infirmary which led to solitary. COMPLETED
1. Pleading the Plan

** Chapter 1: Pleading the Plan

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"Come on Ben, please? It won't be that much trouble. Just a little art on your part and some creativity on mine." Alec had been trying to convince his twin brother to go along with his latest scheme for over an hour now.

"The creativity on your part is what I'm worried about," Ben grumbled. He knew he couldn't count on his fingers the number of times Alec had gotten 'creative' and gotten him in trouble. Hell, there probably weren't enough fingers in all of Manticore. Besides, this time it wouldn't be Lydecker, Renfro, or even the TAC officers that they had to worry about; it was Max. And that was much more frightening than anything Manticore could throw at them. Especially the way she was now.

"Ben, have a little faith in your brother, would ya?" Alec smirked. "The plan is flawless. And you don't even have to worry about solitary." Ben shot him a look as he tried to get comfortable on his bunk. Solitary confinement had been a reoccurring pattern in both their 18 years at Manticore. Given, it was mostly Alec that spent time there. Alec ignored the unamused look on his brother's face and continued.

"All you have to do is change our barcodes a little and be me for a few hours."

"Gee, I don't know if I can possibly be you for that long. All that sarcasm looks really draining." Ben rolled his eyes.

"Ben, stop being an ass," Alec retorted.

"How'm I supposed to do that if I'm posing as you?" Ben quipped, smiling sweetly.

"Be-en! Please. I just need a few minutes alone with Maxie. She won't look at me and you won't even try to talk to her. Indulge me here."

"Alec, honestly. Act like you're 18 instead of 8. Max will come out of this funk she's in eventually. It will be back to a rousing game of punch-the-Alec in no time." Ben wasn't just attempting to convince Alec of this fact; he needed to convince himself.

Max had been acting strange ever since she'd returned from her sudden dissapearance. They'd all found out later that she'd been in the infirmary for three days, presumably for isolation during her heat, but afterwards, it had been straight to solitary. She hadn't spoken a word about it to anyone since she'd been back on active duty. No one was talking since no one knew exactly what had happened. Everyone knew better than to ask her what was wrong. That was dangerous. But Ben had been tempted a time or two to brave it anyway. He really hated seeing Maxie like that, so cold and distant. A shadow of her normally vibrant self.

"What makes you think she'd talk to me about whatever it is?"

"You're her brother. You two have been close since you were born. Of course she'd talk to you," Alec explained, rolling his eyes.

"Did you ever stop to think that she simply went into heat and did somethin' to get herself thrown in isolation?"

"Something...like what?" Alec asked, racking his brain.

Ben simply raised an eyebrow.

"Oh no! Don't even think that! Maxie may have gone into heat, but she wouldn't...she couldn't...Oh man." Alec tried to shake the thought of Max attacking TAC officers in her heat-induced fervor.

"Alec, when are you going to admit that you're crazy about Max?"

"What? I'm not! I'm just...worried about her," Alec sputtered. 'Yeah right. That's _almost_ the truth,' he thought to himself.

"Alec, you just had a shit fit over the idea of Max bangin' the staff. You're so obviously jealous." Ben was amused at Alec's denial. Everyone in their unit knew Max and Alec were crazy for each other...except for them.

"I just didn't want Max to do something she'll regret. That's ALL." Alec splayed himself out on the bunk in the cell the twins shared, putting his hands behind his head.

A tap on the metal door sounded and then the boom of their TAC leader followed. "Lights out," he barked in a voice that commanded obedience.

The two men shut off their lights and waited for the echo of footsteps to fade away before continuing their conversation.

"Ben, seriously. I'm worried about Maxie. I know I ask you for a lot, but please do this for me. I need to know if Max is alright and you have the same schedule as she does this week. Please Ben?"

_Dammit, why does Alec have to pull this sincerity shit?_ Ben thought as he sighed and threw his hands up in exasperated aquiescence. "Fine. Where's the stuff?"

Alec jumped up off the bunk and pulled out a brick from the wall. Reaching inside the hole, he pulled out a small round case, a spray bottle, and a permanent marker. "Right here, my brother. We'll do it a half hour before wake-up.

"Why not just do it now?" Ben wanted to get this over with.

"Because it'll smear, stupid. The sealant's not _that_ good. Go to bed," Alec replied as if Ben should know this already.

"Fine." Ben settled back in his bed and closed his eyes. Within moments he was sound asleep. Alec, however, was far from it, too racked with worry to sleep. Max had _never_ gone more than a few days without talking to him, even if it was only to insult him. It had been two weeks since she'd gotten out of solitary and she hadn't so much as glanced in his direction. He knew; he'd been watching. The one time he'd managed to catch her eye, the pain and conflict he'd seen there had cut right through to his soul, if there was such a thing. He needed to know what had happened, what they'd done to her.

Alec laid there, never moving, only thinking, until it was time to wake up Ben.

"Ben," Alec said, shaking his twin's shoulders. "Ben, get up."

Ben mumbled serveral nonsense syllables and rolled over. Alec pulled him upright.

"Ben, get your lazy ass out of bed."

When Ben had finally forced the sleep from his eyes, he went about getting dressed. Alec pulled the tools out from their hiding spot and they went to work.

"Where'd you get the make-up from?" Ben asked while applying the flesh-coloured powder to Alec's barcode.

Alec smirked shamelessly. "Renfro's office."

"I'm pretending that I never heard that." Ben took the permanent marker and carefully doctored Alec's barcode to read '493' instead of '494'. He sprayed the sealant over his work to keep it from smearing. Once it had dried, he traded places with Alec on the bunk and they repeated the process.

Once everything had been finished, they switched bunks and waited for the bugle to signal it was time to wake up. It wasn't long until the bugle sounded and they headed out the door and in opposite directions. Alec sent up a silent prayer to Ben's Blue Lady as he rounded the corner out of the barracks and saw Max heading to drills. _Please, let this work_.

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	2. And the Truth Comes Out

**Chapter Two: And the Truth Comes Out**

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Alec quickened his pace and sidled up next to Max to ensure he'd be next to her in formation. He gave her a small smile like the one Ben would've given her before the unit lined up in the training room. She returned the smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. _It's a start,_ Alec thought.

The squad snapped to attention when their TAC leader strode out in front of them, clipboard in hand.

"You know the drill, soldiers. Push-ups, curls, pair off for sparring,' the officer orderd with an air of importance gained from never being disobeyed.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" The unit responded in unison as they had been trained to do since birth. They all immediately fell to the floor to begin the exercises. Alec and Max were the first to finish, so they paired off and went to a mat to being sparring.

Max was hesitant to make the first move. She rarely paired up with Ben when she could avoid it because she wouldn't fight dirty with him, which was how she fought. He went strictly by the book and it left him with a disadvantage. Luckily, he came at her first with a hard right that she quickly blocked. She easily ducked a second attempt, using the opportunity to deliver a blow to his ribs. He stumbled back and Max dropped to her hands and kicked her foot out, sweeping his legs out from under him. He hit the mat...hard.

_Damn. When did she get so good at this?_ Alec thought.

He kicked himself up off the mat, using the momentum to power a kick to Max's side. It took everything he had not to utter a smart-ass comment when she went down, but that would've been a dead giveaway.

Max allowed the kick to throw her to the floor and somersaulted to her feet, immediately adopting her fighting stance. She feigned left and went right, delivering a hard hit to Alec's face. He stumbled backwards and looked like he was going to fall. Suddenly, Max heard a yell and turned to investigate. Alec took this chance to swipe at Max's leg, bringing her to the ground.

Max landed on the mat, closing her eyes in shock. Ben had never attacked her when she wasn't focused. _Maybe he learned some of my tricks. Well, that's fine. He wants to play dirty, I'll give him dirty,_ she thought.

She groaned loudly and put a hand to her head, wincing in pain. Well, that's what Alec saw anyway. he quickly rushed to her side. _Shit, what did I do?_ he mentally chastized himself.

"Max, are you alright?" he said quietly, not daring to speak any louder for fear of the TAC officer hearing him address Max by something other than her designation.

He was surprised when Max's eyes snapped open and she smirked. She grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled, flipping him over her. He landed hard on his back, Max landing on top of him, pinning him to the mat.

Her eyes twinkled and Alec couldn't stop the rush of emotion that flooded up inside him at seeing that familiar sparkle having returned.

"That was dirty, Maxie," he grinned, trying his beest to keep other Alec-like comments from issuing forth from his mouth. Things that had nothing to do with Max's dirty fighting and everything to do with the way she was stradling him right then.

"Oh, like hitting me when I wasn't looking wasn't dirty?" She dismounted, much to Alec's chagrin and relief, and offered him a hand up.

"It's a good tactic," he responded, taking her hand and letting her pull him up. He dusted off the back of his fatigues and then turned to her.

"One you never use on me when we fight." Alec cursed in his mind. Of course _Ben_ would never take advantage of his distracted sister.

_Oops._

"I guess I'm picking up your habits. Anyway, no way is what I did worse than what _you_ did. I thought you were really hurt!" He remembered the panic he'd felt then and frowned.

"It's a good tactic," she said, grinning.

Their conversation was interrupted by their barking superior. "Good work, soldiers. Dismissed! Report to your designated leisure areas."

The unit of X5s broke up into groups and Alec panicked momentarily. Where was Ben's rec group? Thankfully Max pulled on his arm, leading him in the direction Tinga and Zack had gone. Apparently he was assigned to Rec Room 3.

_Good,_ he thought, following Maxie. _There's a pool table there._ The Manticore higher ups had decided to put a few outside games in the rec rooms to allow their soldiers some semblance of normalcy. It of course had nothing to do with teaching them a few things that would be helpful when they had to blend in on away missions.

Max and Alec had been known for hogging the pool table. That is, when she had actually been talking to him.

Tinga and Zack went over to the couch as they argued over who had one their match. It had been a stale-mate but both were claiming victory, as usual.

"You wanna play?" Alec asked Max, pointing to the pool table. Max stared at it for what seemed like forever, and when she looked back at Alec, the twinkle in her eye had disappeared. The distant and withdrawn Max had returned. She shook her head and went to sit on a stool in the corner of the room. Alec sighed. This was going to be harder than he'd thought.

He walked over and sat down on a neighboring stool. "Maxie, what's wrong?" Tact was something in which Alec had always found himself lacking. Blunt was more his approach.

"Nothing, Ben. I'm fine. Always am, right?" Her words were icy cold and she kept her gaze on the floor.

"No, you're not. You never turn down pool. Not once since they brought in the table." Max had taken quickly to the game and could beat anyone who dared to play her. Everyone except for Alec, that is.

"I've just got a lot on my mind right now, that's all."

"I'm here if you wanna talk. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, Ben. I know. I just wish I could talk to you about this. It's...complicated..." she trailed off. Alec began to wonder if his ingenious plan had been a waste. It seemed it may have been if Max couldn't even talk to Ben. He shook his head. He was not one to ever admit defeat.

"Why couldn't you tell me? There's obviously something wrong here Maxie, and you need to talk about it before you drive yourself crazy. I care about you Max, and I'm worried." Alec wasn't acting anymore and Max looked up at the note of genuine concern in his voice.

"I didn't realize anyone cared that much."

"Are you kidding? Alec has been keeping me up every night trying to get me to tell him what _he_ did wrong. He's going nuts because you won't talk to him and he thinks it's all his fault," Alec said, actually telling her the truth. Max turned her gaze to her hands which were playing nervously with the hem of her shirt. _Not the response I was looking for_, Alec thought. _Had_ he done something wrong?

"It's kind of...well it is about him. Sort of." Alec fought hard to keep his face void of emotion.

"How so?" he asked, hoping his voice didn't shake. If it had, she didn't notice.

"During...those three days," Max began. She couldn't bring herself to talk about her heat with the guys in her unit and this was awkward for her. "I went to the infirmary as soon as I realized what was going on with me. Right after I almost hit on the TAC officer for unit 5." She shivered involuntarily at the memory. Unit 5's TAC was an overwieght bearded redneck with rotten teeth and worse BO. _Yuck,_ she thought.

For a moment Alec thought that was all he was going to get out of her, but then she continued.

"I was about to check myself into isolation in the infirmary when Renfro came in and told me I had to do a mission for her. She took me into one of the labs and told me that my mission...was to copulate with X5-634." Max spat the last few words out as if they left a sour taste in her mouth. Alec gulped. He didn't really want to hear this, but he couldnt' leave now.

"My..heat wasn't far enough along yet that I had lost control, so I refused."

"Max, it was a direct order," Alec stated in surprise and relief.

"I know, Renfro reminded me of this...right before she left and locked the door, trapping me in the lab with 634. She left us there for the night. After..." Max was near to tears and so was Alec. He knew that what Renfro had done was as near to rape as you could get and it wasn't long before his pain turned to a mixture of jealousy, anger, and concern.

"Oh Maxie, it wasn't your fault. It's okay..." he tried to reassure her. He was still wondering what he had to do with all of this.

"I know, but what happened after was. As soon as I sobered up and realized that I could be...pregnant. I grabbed the nearest medication that I could find and downed it." Alec's eyes widened in shock. "If I was pregnant, Manticore would take the baby and I would never see it. It would be just another test subject. I couldn't let that happen." She mused thoughtfully. "I got sick and had to stay in the infirmary for the rest of that day and the next. They knocked me out with some sedatives and threw me into solitary for a week. No food, water, or clothes. They turned up the AC until I nearly got hypothermia. I found out that I'd succeeded. Any chance I'd had of being pregnant was ruined." There was slight sadness amongst the waves of relief in her voice. "Then..Renfro told me...that...I was going to...our unit..." She almost couldn't choke back the sob that built in her throat. "They're instituting a breeding program starting with our unit."

"They're what? That's sick!" Alec nearly shouted.

"That's why I've been so...out of it. They told me who everyone was going to be paired with and everything."

"Max, hate to be blunt here, but what does any of this have to do with Alec?"

Max cast her eyes to the floor and her bottom lip trembled. She put her head in her hands and sobbed. "He's not paired with me and I couldn't understand why I cared."

Alec just looked at Max like she'd sprouted a second head. "Wh-why do you care? I mean...I thought you hated him."

Max shook her head. "No, Ben. I don't hate Alec. It killed me that my..first time doing _that_ was with 634. And I couldn't understand why. It was an order. I figured it out eventually. I was upset that...that it wasn't Alec. I felt like I'd betrayed him. I don't hate him Ben...I think I love him."

"What?"

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	3. Revelation

** Chapter Three: Revelation

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"See? I knew you'd react like that," Max whispered. The room had gone silent with Alec's outburst, but was now progressing back to its earlier volume.

"No! I'm sorry. It's just a surprise. That's all...All this time I thought you couldn't stand him..and now..." Alec couldn't believe his own ears.

_She loves me?_ He deliberated between jumping for joy while siling like an idiot and pinching himself to see if he was awake.

"It came as kind of a shock to me too, don't worry." Max smiled slightly.

"But...Max, if you feel that way about m-him, why have you been avoiding him so much. He thinks you're mad at him." Alec mentally cursed himself at the near slip.

"I...I needed to put some distance between us. After what happened with 634, and...the whole breeding program thing. If I can forget I love him I won't care that he's...going to be with Jace." Alec's eyes widened. Ben liked Jace.

_Shit, he'll kill me._

"Who are you paired with, Maxie?" He didn't really want to know, but it was a kind of morbid curiosity that made him ask.

"Ben...I don't think you really want to know the answer to that."

"Yes, I do."

"Fine...I'm paired with...you."

_I'll kill him,_ he thought. Then suddenly, he had an idea. He felt like a lightbulb should appear above his head.

"I think that actually works out..."

"Are you crazy! You're like my brother! In _no_ way does that work out!"

"Maxie, shut-up and listen for a minute," Alec said impatiently.

_He's sounding more like Alec everyday,_ Max mused.

"Fine. I'm listening." Max sighed and settled back in her stool, leaning on the wall.

"Alright. See...I like Jace, and you like Alec. I think a twin swap-" The irony was not lost on him.

"No. I don't...Alec doesn't even like me like that." Max saddened, near tears again.

"You're so blind, Max. Alec loves you. He always has. He just never had the balls to admit it," he said softly. This wasn't the way he'd wanted to tell her. He'd imagined something a bit more romantic. Well, as romantic as you could get inside Manticore.

Max stared up into his eyes upon hearing the emotion in his voice. His hazel eyes sparkled, boring into her own brown ones. There was something there she hand't seen before.

_Why didn't I see it until now?_

"Alec..." she breathed.

"What?" Alec panicked. She was so going to kick his ass.

"You jerk. You tricked me!" she said, punching him in the shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Alec began, but he was cut off by Max.

"You knew I would talk to Ben, so you switched. How?" She pulled down his head and looked at the back of his neck. The end of the barcode looked a little shiny. No one would notice if they weren't looking for it.

"You doctored the barcodes." Max let him sit back up and just stared at him. "Why?" she demanded.

"I was worried about you. You wouldn't even look at me, Maxie. I needed to know what happened." He pleaded with his eyes that she understand.

"You _lied_ to me, Alec," she accused, anger and shock in her voice.

"No. Everything I said was-IS-true. Max, I love you." There. He'd said it, made it real.

Max was quiet for several minutes. It seemed like an eternity to Alec.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"What? Why didn't _you_ tell _me_?"

Max shook her head, then put her hand on his. "It doesn't matter. Now we know. Do you still feel...are you mad about 634?" She stumbled over the words, afraid of the answer.

"Hell, yeah I'm mad! Just not at you." He added the last part quickly when the saw the hurt expression cross Max's features. "I'm..It's not your fault. Or 634's for that matter. It's Renfro-Manticore." He put up a hand and cupped Max's chin, making her look at him. "Not. Your. Fault. It doesn't change the way I feel about you, Maxie. Nothing could." How badly he wanted to kiss her then. But with all the staff around, it would be suicide.

"I..I love you, too, Alec." A single tear rolled from Max's eyes and down her cheek. Alec took his thumb and gently wiped it away. He brought down his hand he'd kept it there as long as he'd dared and smiled lovingly at her.

"So," Max said, sniffling slightly. "You're brilliant plan is to doctor the barcodes again when the breeding program starts? You with me and Ben with Jace?"

"Yup...that is, unless you'd rather have Ben..." This earned him another smack from Max. She really had to find a new place to hit him.

"No. Only you." Max smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown.

"What's wrong?" Alec asked, alarmed at the sudden change in Max's mood.

"Alec...the program. They want us to give them babies. I can't-I won't..."

"I know. Don't worry. You know how many deals I've got goin' here. I'm sure I can score some contraceptives. I won't let them do that to you. To any of us if I can help it."

"There's got to be a better way...What happens if one day you two can't switch?"

"Shit. I hadn't thought of that. You have a better idea?"

"Maybe...you know how much these people like to mess with us, right?"

"Oh yeah," Alec replied, bitterness making it's appearance.

"Well...There's going to be a meeting today with Renfro. She's going to tell everyone about the program. Maybe if we seem happy with our pairings, bitch that she is, she might switch us up just to piss us off."

Alec smiled. "That's my girl! Do I sense a plan?"

"Yeah...I've been hanging around you too much," she jabbed.

Alec mockingly placed a hand over his heart. "Maxie, you hurt me so."

"Sure I did. Now shut-up, pretty boy. Here's the plan..."

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	4. It's About Time

** Chapter Four: It's About Time

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The line of transgenics stood silently at attention and saluted as one when Director Renfro entered the meeting room.

"At ease, soldiers. Have a seat." Renfro took her seat at the head of the long table, sitting a manilla file folder in front of her. "If 452 hasn't already informed everyone, I will tell you why you are all here," she said once everyone had settled into a chair. She was met with confused faces as she glanced around the table.

'She didn't tell them. Good, that makes this so much more fun,' she thought evilly.

"Our government officials have decided that it is time to see if successful procreation of your...line is possilbe. Therefore we are instituting a breeding program." She looked around the room and saw munite traces betraying the panic under the masks her soldiers had been trained to wear. She smirked.

"I have here a list of breeding partners. Every night, the males will be taken to the female barracks and will copulate with their partner until successful fertilization occurs. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am," all the soldiers said together.

"Good, Please go stand with your designation is called. X5-452 and X5-493...X5-453 and..." Renfro continued to call out designations until everyone was paired off.

_Now the fun begins_, thought Alec, daring a quick glance at Max, who was standing next to him with Ben. She blinked her eyes in a quick pattern. It didn't take Alec long to figure it out. She'd signalled 'I love you.' He signed 'you too' back very quickly and fought down his urge to grin like an ass.

"Thank Manticore. They paired us together," Max whispered, just loud enough that Renfro could hear. "We're lucky they didn't pair me with 494." She forced a shiver. "He's such an ass, I don't think I could let him touch me. But you..." She saw in her peripheral vision that Renfro was staring at her. Max moved her eyes hungrily up Ben's body.

_Pretend he's Alec. He looks like Alec. He's not your brother. __He's _anyone _but your brother._

"I know," Ben replied, returning her gaze. "Imagine if they'd paired me with _his_ partner. We really are lucky." Alec smiled inwardly. From the look on Renfro's face, she was gonna fall for it. They knew this approach wouldn't work for everyone and were surprised when all of their unit had said they were fine with their partners. Max and Alec had singled out each of their unit to tell them the plan before the meeting. They were lucky there weren't more people who wanted to switch. There was no way they could've pulled it off.

"Oh no. It looks as if there has been a typographical error on the pairing sheet," Renfro announced. 'Let's see how grateful these kids are now.' She glanced at the paper with feigned confusion.

"X5-494 and X5-493 were paired incorrectly." Max forced herself to pale visibly. "494..you are with 452. Switch places with 493."

"Ma'am. With all due respect, are you sure it was an error?" Alec injected panic into his voice expertly.

"Yes, Director. I don't see-" Max began.

"Silence! Do not question my authority soldiers. You will do exactly as you are told. Or would you both rather spend a week in solitary?" The two Xs were silent.

"That's what I thought." She motioned for Alec and Ben to switch places. As they did, Alec turned his back to Renfro and flashed Max one of his trademark smiles, the one that had always made her weak in the knees.

"The program begins tonight. A guard will come for each of the males at twenty-two hundred and will lead you to the female barracks. You will remain in your designated partner's cell until a guard comes for you at oh-one-hundred. You will be expected to report your status in the morning during formation. Dismissed!" Renfro grinned smugly to herself as she turned to leave, glancing on last time at 452 who was looking rather green. She left the conference room very happy with herself. What she didn't know was that the transgenics at her back were more delighted than she'd ever be.

Alec and Ben were pacing back and forth in their cell. They'd been given leave from all their duties to "rest up for their mission tonight," in the words of Lydecker. At exactly 2200 the guards retrieved them and led them to the female barracks; Alec to Max's and Ben to Jace's. Sam, Max's roomate and twin, had been taken with Zane to an empty cell in the girl's barracks.

The guard leading Alec handed him a small box and Alec handed him a pack of very nice cigars that he'd gotten from Lydecker's office. The guard smiled and unlocked Max's cell door. Alec pulled out a small bottle from under his shirt -pre-pulse whiskey- and handed it discreetly to the guard.

"Make sure everyone except who I told you stays clear of here until half an hour before dawn," Alec said, winking at the guard.

"No problem." The guard pulled open the heavy metal door and Alec went in.

Max had been wearing a hole in the floor for the last 3 hours. She was sure there would be a visible line. She stopped and looked up as she heard the door close. Alec held out his arms and she rushed to him, embracing him.

"Did you get it?" She asked, not moving from her hold on him.

"Yep. It's called a diaphragm...and you're really not gonna like what you do with it...but anyways. Put it someplace safe for now."

"We...You mean...We're not gonna use it?" Max moved back slightly so she could look at him.

"Not tonight, anyways. Why rush it, Maxie? We'll have every night. I thought tonight, we'd have a romantic dinner, sip some champagne, talk and then go to sleep. Max laughed, the sound warming Alec's heart. He hadn't heard her laugh in so long.

A knock sounded at the door and Alec sidled over to it. The hole in the door slid open and a hand fed through a basket covered with a red cloth and a rather large bottle. Max gazed in awe as Alec set the items on the floor, gave a quick "Thanks, man," and the slot closed. The footsteps faded quickly and Alec turned to her.

"You thought I was kidding?" His eyes glittered with life.

"I...how?" Max was stunned, and very pleased.

"The guy owed me one," he shrugged. "Come on, let's sit." Alec spread Max's blanket ou ton the cement floor and opened the basket, setting out its contents. Two tall candles, a lighter, two plates with sandwiches that looked like they actually contained real food,not just the tofu they served in the mess hall, and two wine glasses. Alec lit the candles and poured the champagne.

"Alec..this is perfect," Max said softly, looking wide-eyes at the display he'd set up. She reached out and cupped his face in her hand. "You're perfect."

Alec leaned over the food and took Max's head in his hands. Their eyes met and then closed. Thier lips came together in a soft, gentle kiss. Neither one knew how long it lasted. It could've been seconds or hours, but neither really cared.

They pulled apart, breathless, and Alec raised his glass to take a drink.

"No, Alec. Don't you know anything?" Max rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to make a toast."

She raised her glass and said, "To finding happiness in the most unlikely of places," and clinked their glasses together. Alec laid a hand on her arm before she could take a sip.

"And to love." They clinked the glasses again.

"To love," Max repeated, placing the wine glass to her lips.

The two transgenics drank their wine and ate their food, laughing and talking like they'd always wished they could. A guard came back around oh-one-hundred to collect the evidence and quickly left.

Alec lead Max to the bed and they curled up under the blankets together, content in each other's arms. Alec traced his fingers across Max's face, almost as if memorizing every detail.

"I love you Max."

"I love you, too, Alec," she replied. "Always."

Sleep and dreams claimed them both soon after. The hard mattress and scratchy blankets did nothing to hinder the peace and happiness of the bed's inhabitants.

A man quietly signalled to the guard at the door and opened the peep hole. He stared through the bars at the sleeping pair. He sighed and smiled slightly. _It's about time these government idiots did something right, _he thought. He leaned on his lion-headed cane and slid the covering shut. He made his way down the dull hallway that had been home to so much pain. He smiled again. "About time."

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**THE END**

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I hope everyone liked it. I think that's going to be the end unless anyone has any ideas for a good epilogue. But this is kind of where I wanted it to stop. Remember...feedback makes this Vamp very joyous. 


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